Thaw in the China crypto world – Hints of ICO ban only being temporary

As discussed in our previous article, we expect the Chinese government to permit ICOs in the near future. We saw the ban as temporary so that there was time to draft legislation and control the hot money and potential investment scams within the industry. A recent interview on CCTV- 13, a government-run television channel in China, corroborates this view. Similarly, a scholar named Hu Bing from the Chinese finance and banking research center stated that the ICO ban is only temporary until legislation is drafted.

How to interpret this:

1. This is not a random interview but a strategic move from the government

2. After the ICO ban news, exchanges and Chinese-based blockchain initiatives have taken a strong hit. There is no doubt that the stakeholders of major Chinese blockchain projects and exchanges are in direct contact with the government. This interview can be seen as a concession to stabilise the markets and give those companies a breather.

3. This interview was not an official statement from the government, but a think-tank closely affiliated with the government. Although the government has allowed this interview, if any scandals or issues appear in the coming weeks, it will be able to denounce the news as unsupported rumours. This would be impossible if an official from the People’s Bank of China had made this claim.

4. We expect the small, unbacked projects (no links with Chinese tech giants, governments institutes, strong funding, … ) will not be able to get licensed, but the strong ones will.